Alito in review

Over all I was fairly happy with Judge Alito's answers during his hearings. It is better for a judge to emphasize the law rather than emphasizing outcomes or the status of litigants. I am comfortable that Alito will follow the law as he understands it. But we will need to pray he will understand the law correctly. I hope he will be a vote to overturn Roe. I also hope he will support religious freedom.

I am a bit concerned with some of his answers on police issues. In a police shooting case Alito did not emphasize the need for the use of force by the police to be proportional. I do of think the police should use deadly force in cases of property crimes unless it is in response to escalation by the suspect. Alito was also very slow in admitting that if a person who has exhausted their appeals has new evidence clearly proving their innocence, they should not be executed. Alito was correct be concerned about the procedural setting of the hypothetical case, and whether there really is actual proof of innocence, but he could have approached his answer differently, by emphasizing first instead of at the last, the goal of our justice system not to punish truly innocent individuals.

All in all I hope Alito works out well. But Supreme Court judges are human. And history is full of surprises with nominees. I hope Alito's surprises are all good instead of bad.